Radio Downloader

As you may have seen elsewhere here, I am a Radio 4 / Radio 4 extra maniac. I am always wanting to keep programmes I have enjoyed and frequently search about for a piece of software that would let me download them. There are plenty out there but none really do the trick.

Until today that is. I came across Matt Robinson’s nerdoftheherd.com website and specifically his free Radio Downloader software. It’s like my dream radio program grabbing application. Not only does it work, it works very well indeed and to top it off, it’s very aesthetically pleasing. The look is good and the feel is natural. I think all of the others I have tried out require you to find the programme listed elsewhere and start it streaming. Matt has managed to integrate the listings of available programmes into the application, and it’s very neat indeed. It downloads in parallel so that whole series can be grabbed quickly. I think it will be getting some pretty heavy hammering from me – I will add to this as I gain experience.

I shall be off to donate to Matt’s hosting before long – highly recommended.

http://www.nerdoftheherd.com/tools/radiodld/

EDIT: I noticed this had stopped downloading over the last few days (3/7/13). Looking on Matt’s website I see the BBC have told him to stop downloads of the program. It would appear they have also blocked the program at their servers as it can no longer connect. I assume it connects directly to the beeb by saying that.

It’s very sad that the BBC have felt they need to do this. I can imagine it puts quite an extra strain on their bandwidth. There is also the matter of copyright on many programs. The BBC are going to offer downloads themselves, but they will be with DRM and so will expire after seven days. No more keeping those programs you love. Wonderful while it lasted, thanks Matt.